Mirrored Mistletoe
by Teris Xenite
Summary: A Christmas short in the Through A Mirror Darkly universe. Come spend the holiday with McCoy and Kirk aboard the ISS Enterprise.


Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek. I own nothing interesting. All I've got is my bones, must be why I like McCoy so much.

AN: In this story assume that 1) McCoy and Kirk have been in a D/s relationship for at least a year, perhaps a little bit more. 2) It's Christmas, 3) That this is set in the Through A Mirror Darkly Series

Mirrored Mistletoe

Teris Xenite

McCoy fiddled with the collar on his neck. None was needed on the Enterprise, so the only times that he ever wore one was when Kirk felt especially kinky, or when they were going off ship. It wasn't that the thing was badly made, but the leather around his neck still felt odd. Kirk had left him explicit instructions on how to dress for the evening, and told him that he'd expect him to be ready by 1800. A quick glance at the chronometer informed him that it was in fact 1810, but this wasn't the first time that the Captain had been delayed.

He felt his pulse quicken as Kirk walked through the door distracted and almost ran into him blindly. "Bones, go back to your quarters. I'm not in the head space I need to be in tonight to play with you." McCoy looked at Kirk quizzically, never once in the year since Kirk had claimed him had he ever turned down his company, and nothing short of one of them being in Med Bay unconscious had kept them from spending the night together. In the beginning he would have welcomed the chance for his own space, now felt like a sign of impending doom.

Wordlessly he unfastened his collar and laid it on Kirk's desk. Then he paused and looked into Kirk's eyes, the wicked humor that he normally had when in McCoy's presence was gone, and instead this look normally led to the Captain doing something that the Empire would commend him for. Unfortunately those commendations normally carried heavy body counts. But beyond that there was a deep seated pain, one that struck McCoy to his core. He'd seen Kirk display humor, maliciousness, and even a twisted form of compassion. But he'd never seen him vulnerable.

His every instinct told him to obey his orders and leave this potentially unstable and definitely dangerous man. But the part of him that had earned him his nickname could not leave this man in such pain. _Hell, he can punish me for it later if he wants. God knows he'll enjoy that. _"What's wrong?"

"Damn it McCoy, I said leave." Kirk turned away from him and flopped dejectedly in a chair.

McCoy walked over beside him and crouched by the chair towards him. "Hey, look at me." When he still wouldn't meet McCoy's eyes he slid his fingers underneath his chin and tilted it towards him. He resisted at first, and then as McCoy persisted turned to glare at him, which McCoy ignored. "Tell me." Cold blue eyes held his stare until his comm unit chimed.

"Captain, surface communication from civilian residence."

"Communication acknowledged, begin transmission." McCoy looked at the door uncertainly. "Oh no, you've already earned yourself a punishment tonight, might as well stay at this point if it's so damned important to you."

The comm screen came to life, filled with the image of a man not much older than Kirk. The look on his face was equally grave. "Jim, I've found him."

"Where?" McCoy would not have thought it possible for Kirk's eyes to harden any farther, but somehow they did.

"He's running of all things a theater company."

"Let me guess the one performing on planet tonight?"

"That's the one."

"I'd thought as much, but wanted to have visual confirmation before I made the strike. Thanks Tom. I'll take care of it."

"If I can be of any help, just let me know. You're not the only one who wants to see things turn out right."

"Yeah I know, watch your back."

"You too, I don't plan on explaining to the others that the bastard finally got to you."

"Don't worry Tom, I can take care of myself. Tell the others I'll send word when it's done."

"All right Jim, just be careful." Kirk nodded sharply and cut the transmission.

He turned to Bones, and with a forced casualness announced. "It looks like your Christmas present is going to have to wait I'm afraid. I'd planned on taking you planet side to see the show, but since the leading man specializes in mass genocide, I'm not planning on letting you close enough to him to lay eyes on him."

"Who are we talking about here?"

Jim walked over to his desk and unfurled a poster announcing the play. "That McCoy is Governor Kodos from Taurus IV."

McCoy flinched at the name. While the news feeds on Earth had declared the man a hero for taking preventative measures to ensure that the colonists had the best chances to survive, the details that had emerged in the underground survivor accounts were horrifying. The death toll and the figures that he'd seen when he'd been studying at Star Fleet medical were chilling. Starvation, torture, cannibalism, rape, murder, all the night mares of humanity all wrapped up into one planet. After a moment he remembered that Jim was the youngest captain in Starfleet history, which would have made him, dear god only 13. Little more than a child when he'd been on the colony.

Swallowing his pity, knowing that it would be ill received and likely end up making Kirk angry instead of making it better, he kept his face carefully neutral, and nodded. "Well that large chunk of your medical history that's missing makes since now. I'm taking it that you're one of the nine that can identify him?" Kirk nodded, and McCoy felt his blood pressure rising. "Does he know that you're coming?"

"As far as I know, he doesn't. But of the ones who can I'm the most visible. I haven't made any attempt to hide from him. My mother kept my name out of the news feeds, but the people at Star Fleet and those involved in the Taurian government know who and where I am."

"So I take it that you mean to eliminate this man?"

"Yes."

"Bring him to me."

"Bones, I'm not planning to let him go gently into the dark night."

"Oh rest assured, the son of a bitch will suffer to his last breath. Which I will insure is a very, very long time in coming."

"I thought that you didn't torture?"

He looked into Kirk's eyes, and attempted to say with a look all the things that would never be spoken between them. "I don't. But for this man I'll make an exception."

"Are you sure?"

McCoy nodded. "Very. This man has been allowed to escape justice for the murder of 4000 people, and the brutalization many more, one who is rather dear to me. I'm sure. When should I expect my patient?"

"We'll have him here within a few hours."

"Who are you taking to capture him?" Kirk inclined his head and raised his eyebrow at the question.

"If I didn't know better I'd say you were worried about me. I'm taking Spock, Sulu, and Cupcake." McCoy nodded his approval.

"Be careful. I'll expect to see you back here in one piece."

"Wouldn't want to cause you any extra work, I'll keep myself in one piece. He couldn't get the best of me when I was a kid, he won't stand a chance now."

"I'll go get things ready. I'll expect you soon."

******

A few hours later Kirk and Spock stood outside of an interrogation room in which McCoy had arranged a med bed, an IV pole, a few trays of instruments, and a selection of drugs. Kirk for one remained unconvinced that his gentle inherently kind doctor could pull off the inherent bastardness required to listen to a man beg for his life and scream in agony. However, no harm was to be done by letting McCoy come to this conclusion by himself, it would after all only reassert how badly McCoy needed him, to insure his own safety and that of his family.

Inside the room McCoy leaned down over Kodos. "Are you scared? You should be. I'm going to make sure that you suffer until your last breath. I'm going to make every single moment from now until the time that you die an experience in agony. And you should know, I am one of the very best at what I do. You will live a very long time, because the difference between me and your run of the mill interrogator, is that after I take you apart, when I have ripped the skin from your body, sliced away the tendons and nerves, I know how to put them back. And I will do so in the most agonizing way possible."

Kodos who was tied spread eagle to the medical bed, looked around desperately for some means of escape. McCoy continued whispering in his ear as the man twitched on the bed, trembling in fear. McCoy injected something into the hanging IV bag, and stepped out of the room.

Kirk looked over at him, incredulous. "What did you do?"

He looked over, and then glanced down at his watch. "Watch, it should be kicking in right about now." At that moment ungodly screams began to fill the room.

Spock raised an eyebrow. "I didn't know you were so proficient in torture Doctor. May we utilize your skills in the future?"

"One time deal Spock. I had a vested interest in this particular case."

"And I repeat. What did you do?" Kirk stared at him visibly shocked at his proficiency.

"It's a combination of psychosis inducing drugs and paranoia pharmaceuticals. Add to the mix some agents that precipitate strong physical discomfort, and you have him in acute suffering that can be maintained for far longer than the tactics that you normally use."

"I am impressed doctor." Spock gave a slight bow towards the doctor in recognition of his expertise.

"And tomorrow, I start playing with scalpels." McCoy tried not to take satisfaction in the shocked looks and the beginning of a deeper respect from both of those very dangerous men. He turned back to watch the man write on the bed, and kept one eye on the man's vital signs at all times. After all, he had promised the man a long and painful death. It would hardly be right for him to allow him to go into cardiac arrest.

*********

McCoy's 'treatment' of Kodos lasted another two weeks. By which point the man was in perfect health, but had slid into madness and incoherence. Attempts by Spock to retrieve his damaged psyche proved futile. The man that had signed the order to kill the colonist of Tarsus IV no longer existed, in his place all that remained was a battered, trembling, and babbling shell. Jim had ordered him thrown into Chekov's tender care, then air locked before calling McCoy to his side. The man had not left the interrogation chamber for longer than required to shower during the entire time that Kodos had been with them. His meals were delivered to the interrogation room, and he'd slept in a bed that he'd brought in and placed beside Kodos. Kirk had to admit that the man was nothing if not dedicated to the job.

His door slid open, and a slightly worn looking McCoy entered the room. "You called?"

"Where the hell did that come from? In all the years I've known you, you've never given any indication of being capable of that. What the blood of the thousands of 'innocent' souls spur you into action?"

"Only one of the souls that Kodos encountered could have caused that reaction in me. I meant what I said, that was a onetime deal. The fact that I won't torture is not an indication that I can't, or don't know how. I chose to be a monster, to slay a monster. That isn't a choice that I can make most of the time."

"Come here." Kirk whispered, not trusting his voice at a louder volume. McCoy complied, and for the first time in their acquaintance Kirk's lips were wholly gentle and non-demanding when they met his. The kiss seemed almost tentative, as if Kirk was trying to determine if he was still the same, or if Bones had been irrevocably changed by the occurrences of the last two weeks. Apparently what he found there was to his liking, and the kiss deepened even though it was still light. A hand on his shoulder steered him towards their bed, where Kirk proceeded to continue the gentle almost reverent kisses that were so alien to their typical encounters.

What passed between them that night was not the most heated sex that they had ever had. It wasn't the longest lasting, or even the most mind blowingly pleasurable that they had ever had. But Kirk's gentle touches and McCoy's hoarse whispers had more meaning to them that night than any that had come before. And afterwards, when they lay tangled together and spent, McCoy knew Kirk's whispered thank you wasn't for an evening of mind blowing sex. Before going to sleep McCoy mused that it was an odd world that they lived in, when declarations of love were signed in blood.

The next morning sleepy and content the two remained a bed far longer than was typical. They'd never been much for cuddling, but it seemed that on this particular day at least they needed the comfort of physicality. Looking over in the chair by the bed, McCoy saw the gift that he'd wrapped for Kirk what seemed like a lifetime ago. "So you were going to take me out to a show huh?"

"Yeah, Kodos was a bastard. But apparently he was a pretty fine actor as well. I wanted to take you out somewhere that wasn't an official Starfleet function."

"It was a nice thought." He reached over and grabbed the package. "You haven't opened your present."

Kirk looked into his eyes and lightly ran his fingers over his cheek. "I already got my present, but since you went to the trouble." His sat up and took the present, wrapped in plain brown paper and tied with surgical string. Removing the paper slowly lifted from the box a very fine leather bound book. "The Art of War. You know me well. Thank you." Kirk gave McCoy another kiss, and growled when the chime of his comm unit interrupted them.

"Captain your presence is requested in interrogation." Reluctantly Kirk pulled away, and as McCoy watched his eyes and visage hardened back into what one would expect for the Captain of the Empire's Flagship. He knew that the preceding night would never be spoken of, and that the next time he saw Kirk things would be back to their normal relationship. But for the first time, McCoy felt an inkling that there was so much more to his Captain than he'd thought. Maybe it really was the season for miracles.

AN: The events in this fic will be explored more in depth when I reach that point in Through A Mirror Darkly. I was trying for Christmas fluff. In response to this suggestion Mirror Kirk growled, and proceeded to send me this instead. Kirk seems a little softer in this towards the end, but don't be expecting it to stick around for long. That's just for Bones. Gods help that poor bastard in interrogation ;). Let me know what ya'll think of the boy's Christmas.


End file.
